Jaiden furrowed a brow at the grinning older teen in front of him. "Who're you." It was a straight-out growl, he didn't care. The smirk was annoying him and frankly he had the sudden urge to punch it off him.
"Syron's the name. I specialize is any sort of exchanges you may need." He spoke more, using fancy words to powder and hide his real occupation. It sounded instead as if he was selling himself, boasting and Jaiden deadpanned to cut him short.

"I've no need for a thief."

"Ah, yes maybe. But a knight surely had need for a sword, am I correct?"

Throwing his hands to his hips, he felt to make sure his word was still sheathed were it should be.
It wasn't.

About to throw himself at the older man, who now held his sword up by the strap Jaiden used to secure at his side, he stopped short when a feminine voice rang out.

"I see you two'll get along swimmingly."

Jaiden groaned and allowed himself to cross his arms as Aydie strode over gracefully. The cleric always knew when to interrupt his fights.

"You know him." he gritted out accusingly. She simply nodded and smiled, gesturing to the thief again, who bowed and held out the sword. Jaiden snatched it back roughly and muttered, looking away with his body turned.

"This is another one of your dumb mercenary tricks, Aydie? Fine. I'll put up with him, only because we grew up together."

As he walked away, the laughter of the cleric and the thief made him growl out curses he didn't even know he knew.

Mi-ki leaned out the window watching the people below, her parents were in another kingdom- big surprise- her sister is off studying and her brother is quarantined. Mi pulled her self back in and wandered down the hall aimlessly. Hoping to find something to do, her parents don't want her leavening the place since monster activity has escalated, or so she's been told. Mi found her way to the weapon storage room for the training session for the soon-to-be knights. Her fingers glazed over the new daggers. She uses to spar with her friend until her parents caught her. Mi-ki left the room and made her way to the courtyard, the only place she could physically go outside alone, she wandered in to the hedge maze and started looking for the end, Leo said the end led to the town but is imposable to find, Mi started to hum so she wasn't walking in silence. Hearing the noise from the town getting closer Mi wondered if what Leo said was true, she pulled the hood of her cloke up and continued to walk. She found the end and looked around-a wall. Mi walked over and surveyed the wall, she could climb that but what if someone saw her on the other side, who knew this is what trying to get a present would in tale.

Mi stuck her foot in a crack in the wall and boosted her self up enough just to see over the edge, it was by and ally way, if no one walked down the ally she would be fine, and what are the chances of that? Mi hoisted her self up and sat down on top of the wall and took a deep breath before she hopped down, glad that she was wearing flats. She landed on her feet, but sat down due to the shock from the landing. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow , that hurt"

"Aydie, did you hear that?"

Aydie Hunter hides the small knife she carried in her pouch and looked over to
her friend and current employee. Sorta. She's was just starting a mercenary
group and it was weird. She didn't know yet. Whatever. She called out to
Jaiden, who walked back, and raised an eyebrow at the thief staring at an
alley nearby.

"If you want me to help him mug someone-"

"No, no, just come. Someone sounds hurt."

Syron led the cleric and the knight to the entrance, and Jaiden steeped
forward to get a closer look. "Hello?" He called out to the hooded figure
sitting at the end.

'Crap' Mi looked up at the three figures at the end of the ally, "Y-yes?" Mi called back. 'I haven't even gotten into town' Mi pulled her self up using the wall and brushed of the dirt from her skirt. "Can I help you?" Mi kept her head low just incase. Her ankle throbbed as she tried to put weight on it. she casually shifted her weight so it wasn't on her hurting foot, checking to make sure the small pouch of coins was still attached to her belt.

Jaiden's eyes widened when he realized the figure was a girl. Stepping back
slightly, realizing he would've gotten to close, he relaxed. Aydie proceeded to
walk closer, the ever-familiar shine of the doctor she was gleaming.

"Oh my, are you alright?" Aydie wasn't looking at the girl. Teal eyes were
trained directly on the girl's feet.

Syron stood away from the unsuspecting two, as he looked at the wall at the
end. A small smirk made its way to his face, before disappearing completely as
he let the other two wonder about the girl.

The knight stood awkwardly at the entrance, unsure what to do. What was a girl
doing out here away from town? He look at her in confusion, not allowing
himself to question.

"Oh, uh, yeah I'm fine, don't worry." Mi turned away and started towards the ally they came from, assuming that was the way to the town. She kept the hood down to hide the pain that was making its way to her face. She walked past girl and looked up at the boy who was at the end of the ally; she looked back down and moved to the side so she wouldn't walk into him.

"You really should get that ankle checked; walking on it should be torture in
a couple of minutes."

Syron smirked as he pulled his own hood down, revealing messy reddish-brown
hair and caramel eyes. Jaiden looked over; catching the look the hooded girl
sent him. He wanted to ask her to stop but refused to. Instead, he asked,
furrowing his eyebrows. "Your ankle? What..."

Realizing the slight way she leaned on one foot and had the smallest of limps,
he blinked. "You hurt it, didn't you?" He frowned, wondering why she didn't
tell them. Minus Syron, they weren't shady people, and the town was a
close-knit, kind one. Was she even from around here?

"If you're headed to town, we can lead you there and help check it out?" He
offered, not allowing his irritation to leak through his words.

Mi stopped and looked back at the three figures "well actually, could you point me in the direction of the bakery. But don't worry about my foot; my brother can look at it when I get home." Mi wanted to get back as soon as possible but she wanted to get the present, never mind the fact she couldn't very well climb back up the wall with them right there. Mi-ki bit her lip hoping they would tell her how to get there.

Jaiden crossed his arms. "No."

When his companions looked at him, his gaze narrowed. "We're not taking you
anywhere until you sit down and let my friend heal that foot of yours." He
deadpanned and continued, "It'll only get worse now and as of recent, places
outside of town have been getting dangerous. No one less than suicidal would
give themselves such a disadvantage against anything in these woods."

Aydie raised an arm to smack Jaiden's arm lightly. "Calm down, you're not
helping at all." The red-headed girl smiled lightly. "P-please excuse my
friend, he's ever the tactician and he means well, honest. We can show you the
bakery right after a quick heal?"

Mi sighed and nodded "Alright." Mi was in no place to argue, she kind of came out here on a whim but she promised fresh blueberry bread and she wasn't going back on her word. "But to the bakery right after, right?" Mi looked up at the boy who had said no, her hood slipping a bit showing her face to him.

Jaiden hadn't changed his expression, but nodded. "Yeah, sure." Noticing her
hood slipping, he squinted to see better.

Aydie only smiled and gestured from the girl to sit. She herself lowered down
to her knees and lifted the staff she carried only slightly. Shutting her
eyes, a soft glow gathered around her hands and staff. She waited slowly,
until she felt it was okay to stop. Stopping the magic and opening her eyes,
she stood.

"That should make it bearable for now. It might feel a tad bit sore, but
that's normal. Be careful on it, okay?"

The two friends shifted. They wanted to ask who she was and how she got hurt,
but knew to avoid it. Instead, Syron spoke then.

"That's finally cleared up. To the bakery, then."

He began walking, down a path that lead into the trees, hard to spot if only
sparing it a glance. Jaiden and Aydie followed, the knight gesturing for her
to follow and looking back to see if he could catch her face anymore.

After saying her thanks Mi followed the three, a branch pulling her hood down, she let it fall back completely, it was hot under the hood and she was walking through trees at the moment, no need to worry about someone recognizing her, she hoped anyway. The only people outside the castle she sees is the knights when they train in the courtyard which rarely happens, and if they can even get a good look at her watching from the balcony is a mystery to her.

Jaiden missed the quick look at the now-unhooded girl and silent understanding
that passed between the mercenaries in front of him, he was to preoccupied in
moving the branches to ensure they wouldn't cause trouble later. Soon enough,
the trees gave way to the large clearing that held his home. He smiled lightly
looking over the buildings, and moved onto the dirt path. He moved forward
until he was in front of the sweet-smelling bakery.

"Here we are"

As they entered the clearing Mi pulled the hood back up, she stayed close to the three strangers, making note of the way they came not wanting to get lost on the way back. How long ago did she leave? She knows that she was in the maze awhile but hopefully it hasn't been long enough to worry the workers, not that she was particularly worried about them, its Leo she was worried about he would certainly be pissed when he found out that she went in to town alone, he has wanted to go for a long time now. Mi lost in though bumped into the boy who had a sword at his hip. "S-sorry" Mi stuttered not really use to being in a situation like this. "Thank you, very much" Mi said with a slight bow, hoping this is where they take their leave.

Jaiden flinched slightly when he was bumped into, only because he was taken
from his own thoughts. He blinked twice and nodded. "Uh... no problem, miss.
Glad to be of help."

Looking over at his two companions, they waved before walking away, probably
to the Inn in which they were sheltered. Letting out a slow breath, he nodded
again. "If that is all, I'll take my leave. Have a nice day, ma'am." He dipped
slightly in his own bow, heading straight for the forest, not looking back.

Mi-ki sighed in relief as he started to walk away, she turned back to see if she could see the castle from where she stood, she let out a groan and she pulled her hood back a bit to get a better look, yup definitely smoke from the east side if the castle. She could picture the way the maids would franticly run around not sure what to do and Leo would just walk over with a bucket of water, douse the fire and smack Takume with the bucket for even started the fire in the first place. "he had to start another one" shaking her head she pulled her hood back up and walked into the bakery, ordered one loaf of blue berry bread and three cookies. She watched as the baker pulled the bread out of the oven and wrapped it with the cookies. She dropped her pouch of ten coins on the counter for the baker and rushed out with the package, and dashed back into the forest the way they came, trying to navigate back to the wall hoping that there's a crack on this side too, otherwise she's completely, screwed.

Leo sat perched on the wall at the end of the Maze, he knew he shouldn't have told Mi about it, he has is bow on the wall next to him and quiver on his back, dagger in its place on his hip, he has no ambition to become a knight, but he dose want to protect him self and Mi-ki. He reached up and pulled his hat off; he proceeded to smooth the fur on his ears. Ok, so he was one of the things people call, 'monsters' but in actuality he only had cat ears as raven as his hair, the rest of him appeared to be human, hence the hat. He fanned himself with his hat as he waited for the runaway to return. He was sent to find her, in a few minuets he was going to go look for her on foot instead of waiting for her, keeping an ear out for approaching foot steps, luckily his sensitive hearing helps with that. He glanced back at the smoke cloud, glade to see it growing smaller. 'Damn it Mi, where are you? Your parents are going to have a heart attack' it only took Leo a second after he thought this to realize why she was so willing to come out here alone and so suddenly, "Well I have to give her credit, it's a good plan" Leo felt more relaxed knowing what Mi was trying to do, the benefit of knowing her for…8 years now, plus being raised with her. Although he refused for it to be publicly announced he was adopted by the king and queen at the age of 8, an is now make up for not going to any of the lessons they wanted him to, he spends his time in the library helping out, which is where mi got the idea for this ridiculous plan. Although he was worried if she ran into something, she did take his spare dagger with her and his second belt for that matter. She may be handing in long range combat but in close up she doesn't stand a chance against…well anything that wants to kill her whole heartedly.

Mi started pushing bushes out of the way creating a loud rustling noise. Mi limped her way back to the wall as fast as she could, as she emerged from the tree line she saw Leo with his bow trained on her "your really going to shoot me?" Mi teased walking over to the wall finding no cracks. "Err Leo do you mind.." Mi trailed off knowing what was coming next.

"Helping you up since this side of the wall is repaired every other month? Of course not." Leo reached his hand down to Mi as she grabbed on he saw the package she was holding, "now tell me, Mi, what on earth possessed you to run off without me like that?" Leo pulled her up so that she was now sitting next to him on the wall.

"I was getting Keeper's present like I promised him I would, don't worry I brought you something too" Mi reached in the package and pulled out one of the cookies she bought and held it out to him. Leo reluctantly took the cookie and started munching on it after swallowing it he looks at her "So, are you ready to go back or are we just going to sit here, cause I'll gladly go back into town with you.

Mi looked up at Leo and her face was full of confusion "Leo, you know if the villagers saw your ears they would run you out of town" Mi said reciting what they've been told a thousand times, waiting for Leo to finish the rest "and then you would get sick again and stay that way until I come back, I know I know." Sighing Leo rested his head on his hand "guess we go see your brother now right?" Leo asked not wanting to sit on the boarder of freedom and more. Mi looked up and nodded "alright, but he your brother too Leo" Mi watched Leo jump right down with out a second though landing without so much as a flinch, he turned and grabbed one of Mi's hands as she jumped down to help lessen the shock of when she lands. After Mi is safely on the ground they both head for the east side of the castle.

As they approached the smell of burnt wood grew stronger and stronger. Once they got to the door that the smell was radiating from, it was almost unbearable; Leo opened the door to see Takume with his wrists bound to the bed post. One of the posts reduced to ash and the stone floor scorched, curtains ruined the dresser scorched, and only small remnants of what use to be the bed sheets. "Takume, what happened? You were doing so well." Mi walks over to her brother and wraps her arms around his waist ducking her head under his arms so she is in between his bound arms. Takume smiled at his younger sister "I knew where you were going today and figured you needed a reminder that you needed to come home, besides I want mom and dad to come home too" Takume smiled smugly at her, noticing the confusion and then the shock on her face "you knew the other reason why I-"

"Mi I'd hate to be the one to tell you but your not too hard to read, especially to two people who know you as well as we do" Leo said leaning against to door frame. Mi stuck her tongue out at him, and hugged her brother again now sitting on his lap "is it wrong to want to see them once in a while? I figured if I left the castle completely for a while, papa would get worried and so would mom and then they'd come back here, even if it was only to scold me, I guess it sounds stupid when I say it aloud" Mi looked down and started to play with her hands. (This is where I start screwing with time a bit) Just as Takume was going to say something the maid poked her head in "your highness your late for you piano lesson"

"Oh, thank you" Mi ducked back under Takume's arms and stood, as she started to leave Takume spoke up, "Mi could you get me some flint, then could you hand me that letter open-" Leo slammed the door while Takume was talking "I swear, he never learns. Just when I thought he was doing it for your sake."

"Leo, he is. He never sets any fires when Papa and mom are here and when their gone for a while he starts setting them more and more often." Leo looked at the younger girl with a curios eye; personally he doesn't like it when they are here, but Mi loves it when her parents are here so he deals with them. "Dose that mean your planning another trip into town?" Leo asked, half wanting to stop her, the other half wanting to go with her.

"And if I am?" Leo smiled letting curiosity take over

"I'm going with you"

"Leo…' Mi looked up at him expecting to see a stern face but saw that of her child hood friend 'alright, but you have to make sure you wear a hat and a hood" Leo weight the befits, "Agreed" Leo and Mi walked the rest of the way to Mi's room where the piano was. There sitting on the bench was a very angry instructor. Mi waked into the room followed by a raven furred cat with purple eyes, "Your highness, I understand that there was an 'issue' with your brother, but you must be punctual for your lessons. You are still learning after all." Mi bit back words that threatened to escape her mouth; she took her seat at the bench where the teacher sat moments ago, without a word. The cat jumped up and sat next to Mi on the bench leaving no room for the instructor to sit. "Ewe, shoo, get out of here" the teacher tried to shoo the cat away but it didn't even flinch "your highness why must you allow this thing to sit on the bench with you."

"Because he likes to listen to me play."

Now the cat is actually Leo in his other form, the teacher refuses to let Leo in Mi's room as a human saying 'it is improper for a young man to be in young lady's room'. Good thing they didn't tell her about when they shared a bed never mind a room. So now Leo transforms during Mi's lessons so he can be there and hear her play. Something catches Leo's ear and he jumps down from the bench and walks to the door to the balcony in one swift jump Leo opened the door and allowed the doors to stay open, freeing the music that was trapped in the room. Leo strolls out to the balcony that over looks the courtyard, he jumps up onto the railing and peers over the side. A few knights were sparing with the knights in training, Leo Mew's his support and continues to watch listening to Mi's playing. Feeling a hand on his head Leo starts to purr due to the hand scratching his head, but it crosses his mind 'wait Mi's still playing' Before Leo could see who was petting him he was pushed off the railing an was plummeting towards the ground at a rapped pace. Letting out a loud hiss he struggled to turn so he could see the ground as he was falling.

Mi hears the hiss and turn towards where it came form she saw the teacher by the railing but no Leo. She stood straight up knocking the stool over and ran the best she could to the railing, to her horror she saw Leo plummeting to the ground. "Leo!" she shouted as pulled away from the railing. She ran out of her room the teacher yelling behind her. 'I'm not gonna make it, I'm not gonna make it!' Mi broke every rule she was ever taught about how to act, don't show panic, don't run in the hall, don't slide down the banisters, and the one that was always hard for Mi, don't let some one see you crying. But Mi let the tears of fear fall freely.

Leo heard Mi call him but there isn't much he can do, he closed his cat eyes as he got closer to the knights with swords, he did not want to see him self getting impaled, and Leo couldn't transform without Mi there so that was a no.

Jaiden let himself grin as the short sword twisted out of the older knights hands. Shaking his sore wrist, the older knight complemented him and retrieved the fallen sword. He sheathed his own and bowed slightly, happy that his sparring for the day was done. Panting slightly, he began to tore off the heavy armor knights were required to wear during training. He was much better once he was out of it, that's for sure. He strode through duels, easily evading his fellow knights, many out which he remembered growing up. Waving to someone who was also finished, the new recruit who claimed to have no memory of his origin and called himself Wally, he was curious when Wally pointed to the sky and gaped. Turning, he noticed that it wasn't the sky, it was the /balcony/. Seeing a black dot plummeting to Earth, his body reacted faster than his brain could. Rushing, he yelled for the knights to move out of the way, so the thing wouldn't land on anyone's head. He then realized it wasn't a /thing/ when he heard a cry from above. A name. Someone's name. That was a /living being/ falling from the sky.

With a swift stride, he pushed forward to catch the black furball. After a few seconds of acknowledging the fact that nothing went 'splat', he sighed in relief and looked at the animal in his arms. A cat.

Suddenly, Wally ran to his side and asked with a panicked tone, "Jaiden sir, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Wally, and so's this guy." He replied, holding up the cat as as he gave it a small pat. Wally looked at the purple eyes of the cat curiously, wondering aloud.

"Don't cats always land on their feet?"

Jaiden looked at the cat again before shrugging, "Maybe this one was just a tad too frightened. It's a pretty bad fall." He looked up again at the balcony, before setting down the cat.

"I don't know if you planned to save yourself, but either way, you're okay now, right? Be careful next time."

Wally observed his higher-up talk to a cat, he heard that black cats were trouble, from the town folk, but Jaiden had no problems about it. When The pale brown-haired boy turned back to Wally, he changed the subject. "Sir, can I spar with you before you go home? Just once!"

Jaiden raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Alright Wally. One spar. I'm not getting back in the armor though," His voice took on a warning tone, and by then, he had already forgotten that he had just saved the life of a cat.

Mi ran out into the courtyard panting and panicking, soon she was clamed but the familiar purring and rubbing against her skirt, she stooped down and picked Leo up earning hisses from said cat, but soon enough he was purring, also happy he wasn't turned into a cat patty. Mi stood by the door holding Leo close for awhile, trying to calm her self down, she ignored any and all of the maids that tried to force her back inside, instead she sat against the wall, and Leo curled up on her lap, Mi looking around trying to find a clue as to who could have save Leo. She knew he wouldn't have been able to save himself no matter what, so who?

Jaiden and Wally fought oblivious to the rush of maids coming outside. Having
five minutes of letting Wally gain the upper-hand, Jaiden shifted and disarmed
Wally within seconds.

Disbelieving at first, the younger boy slumped when he knew he had lost.
Jaiden only laughed, clamping a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're getting
better, man. You'll beat me soon. Your footing was off." With that, he
withdrew his sword and grabbed his bag. He nodded a goodbye and went well on
his way. One last time he looked back to the castle, the one whose royal
family he had sworn to protect.

That was all just an idiotic oath.

Many times he wondered why he sworn his life to that family, when he never saw
any of them. All he knew of them was petty gossip from the older women. His
eyes lingered on the balcony he raced under today, and he vaguely wondering
that if someone in his low position would ever see the family.

Many more knights were older and higher than him, and at his rate, he'd never
get any higher.

He laughed slightly, that didn't matter. Where he was now didn't matter,
because he was fine with it.

His mind cleared, he turned to the forest and walked back to his home.

Mi watched the Knights spar, and smile on her face remembering when her and Leo would spar, as long as she was a good distance she would win, but if Leo got too close that was it. Mi watched as the knights slowly filed out, not one hinting at who had saved Leo.

Mi scooped Leo up and walked around the knights that were still there and into the hedge maze, she found her way to a dead end and sat down on the soft grass, nudging Leo, "Leo, wake up". Leo opened his deep purple eyes and looked up at Mi and yawned, he hopped down from Mi's lap and sat next to Mi. there was a small flash of light and the human-ish Leo was sitting next to her. "Mi, what if a knight saw that?" Leo asked referring to the light. "Let them, they didn't see where it came from. They won't know where it came from." Leo shook his head and looked up at the now dimming sky, the pinks, oranges, purples, and the fading blues all swirling together. "Mi, when are we going? Into town that is." Leo suddenly felt very anxious to leave the castle, which to him felt more like a cage. When there was no reply he turned and saw that Mi had fallen asleep leaning against the hedge, he carefully lifted her up, making sure not to get her hair caught in the bush and started making his way out of the maze.

The hooded figure chuckled softly, to him self to ensure no one would hear him. So the girl from earlier really was the princess, and her friend was a cat. How interesting this could be. Slowly, he left, masking his footprints and making no sound. He vaguely wondered if he should share this with the new knight he met today, but decided against it. This might cause trouble, and as much as he loved trouble, it would be best to keep this between him and his commander.

Grinning, he found the path Jaiden was taking, watching the boy stare at his surroundings. Stepping out of the bushes, he made himself known. "Hello Sir Jaiden."

He heard the younger boy groan and sigh. "I'm not a 'sir' yet. I'm too low of a knight, thief." There was a a tone that strictly said, "What the hell do YOU want?" A tone Syron knew very well.

"I see, well I was just going to report to Miss Adelessa, and thought I'd say hi."

"Hi, hello, go away."

"Good bye, Jaiden, I'll see you at the Inn."

Before Jaiden could yell that HELL NO he wasn't staying at the Inn, the thief was gone, leaving the knight thinking that there was a distinct thing that he just missed out on.